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I've forgotten how to ride on dry trails.

Out for a spin this morning and the trails are completely dry. No need for mudguards at all, and the sun was even shining. Out on the PACE RC303 and I'd forgotten how to ride on dry trails. It's bizarre but I expected to slip and slide my way around and it all felt odd to have grip. Quite frankly I didn't know what to do as it has been so long since I've ridden anywhere with real grip. It's going to take a day or two to get used to this, but by heck it'll be worth trying.

This is the link bridleway from the A217 to Wray Lane.

Now I've been looking at the gearing on my bike and pondering why it has a 42t outer chainring. The new crop of 1x10 or 1x11 geared bikes to my mind look just right. For some reason aesthetically I find the look of a chain on a single front ring pleasing. Somehow it looks right whereas a triple set up doesn't. So this week I simply removed my outer ring for no other reason than I don't like the look of it. Surely that's as good a reason as any to make a change? My only concern now is that the front mech looks like a horrid piece of junk. First world problems eh?

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The weight loss is minimal, and I'll probably look like a jey boy trying to outpace Roadies, but I like it. All week I've been fretting that it'd ride pants and keep falling off; although for the life of me I couldn't see why it would in actuality. So today I took it down the roughest descent we have here, a little rock chute that also succumbs to fallen branches, and the set-up was fine. I also liked it psychologically as I've never ever been happy with having all those sharp teeth of the outer ring right next to my leg. I've no idea why I didn't do this years ago! And yes I did go to the trouble of removing a few links from the chain, although I did this post ride.

It was funny riding the PACE as I've ridden suspended for the past three days. It felt dead and inert. A bit boring even. Sure it is 4lb to 5lb lighter than a suspension bike, but you'd never guess by the way it rides. I can appreciate now why people tend to have suspenders for good days and save their hardtails for the crappy winter months.

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